This Saturday Ohio State will face Northwestern in the 2018 Big 10 Football Championship Game. The game will air on FOX and be held at 8pm in Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis. Ohio State (11-1 and 8-1 in conference) is the home team, winner of the Eastern Conference. Northwestern (8-4 and 8-1) comes in as the winner of the Western Conference.

Ohio State History

This is the Buckeye’s fourth time in the Championship game, beating Wisconsin in 2017 and 2014. Northwestern has never been to the game. JK Dobbins was the MVP last year when Ohio State beat Wisconsin.

The 2018 Season

Ohio State is entering the game after one of their best performances of 2018, a 62-39 victory over Michigan. The Buckeye season overall was a rollercoaster with difficult games against Nebraska and Maryland and a loss at Purdue. Dwayne Haskins has been outstanding all season long with 4000 yards and 42 touchdowns so far. He is being considered for the Heisman and recently won the Big Ten Player of the Year Award. Parris Campbell (903 yards/11 tds), KJ Hill (823 yards/6 tds), Terry McLaurin (591 yards/ 9 tds) and Johnnie Dixon (513 yards/6 tds) have been his favorite wide-outs. Runnings backs Dobbins (961 yards/8 tds) and Mike Weber (807 yards/5 tds) have led the ground attack.

Now, who would have ever thought it would all come to this: it's Michigan v. Ohio State, folks. Like no one has predicted. The year 2018 will go down in history as the most psychedelic year ever for politics, the weather, the news, and now: football. Come to think of it, the Buckeyes have never started as underdogs in the last seven years.

And that's what makes the Michigan v. Ohio State showdown at 12:00 p.m. EST on Fox a rarity in the constellation. Definitely not one to be missed, the once-in-seven-years TV event sends a lot of conspiracy theories spinning.

Lo and behold, the Wolverines are now on the dark horse end of the season with Michigan v. Ohio State being anybody's guess. That nobody saw it coming including Michigan itself is the best part of the story. It won't be a surprise at all if some football lovers end up looking at Michigan v. Ohio State as a high-stakes poker game coming into Saturday of all Saturdays.

One fearless forecast as Michigan v. Ohio State approaches the weekend is that Mike Weber will stand in the gap. Another is that Dwayne Haskins will save the day with his limbs. Regardless of anybody's portent, the faith of Buckeye lovers will certainly be put to the test as Michigan v. Ohio State happens.

Ohio State vs Maryland is one of college football's ongoing wildfires if wildfires always ended as quickly as they started. The ongoing spat stems primarily from a homegrown rivalry on the part of the Ohio State vs Maryland camps. Just as you might expect from actual wildfires, the Ohio State vs Maryland version seems to come out of nowhere.

Ohio State vs Maryland Compared to the California Fires

As luck would have it, the Ohio State vs Maryland meet this Saturday marks only the third time. If previous experience is any barometer for the impending 12 p.m. encounter, it is that Ohio State has nothing to worry about. For another, the Terps' current track record points to a losing streak.The only way the Ohio State vs Maryland encounter can escalate into a war of the worlds is if the Buckeyes were to adopt a completely complacent attitude. And that could happen if OSU were to worry too much about its next match with Michigan.

Action Speaks Louder than Words

For the record, it's a solid 4-0 for Ohio State vs Maryland; and a 2-0 twice over previously. The Buckeyes have likewise consistently outgunned the competition by 87 points in the series. This game on Saturday should be more of the same.

Last Year's Record

2017's Ohio State vs Maryland rivalry is lopsidedly in favor of the Buckeyes, who were ahead by as much as 48 points. J.K. Dobbins, Mike Weber, and Parris Campbell all had a role to play in snuffing the life out of Maryland. So from last year's look of things, the Ohio State vs Maryland rivalry was a one-way street. Dobbins ran for 96 yards and a touchdown with Weber adding an additional 59 yards and a touchdown. JT Barrett scored on the ground in addition to Antonio Williams and Campbell.

This has not been the year Ohio State was hoping for up to this point, but quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been holding his own with an excellent passing season. This weekend, he goes up against a solid Michigan State defense, hoping to slow him down as much as possible.

Since Urban Meyer arrived on campus, expectations have been extremely high for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Simply put, this is a football program that feels as though they should be National Championship contenders each and every year. One look at the last four games for this team will show anyone that they don't look like anything close to a contender in 2018. Although they can still finish the season with one loss (albeit a bad 29-point drubbing from Purdue), the schedule does not look great. Ohio State has struggled against the spread, and now they face a solid Michigan State team that is 6-3 on the year.

The Spartans come in on a two-game win streak, albeit against some mediocre teams. They did beat Purdue one week after the Boilermakers beat Ohio State, but their last win over Maryland was against a team dealing with a tone of turmoil. The Spartans know that Ohio State is better than either of those teams.

Junior wide receiver Austin Mack might miss the rest of the season after undergoing foot surgery following an injury during the game Saturday against Purdue. He went out of the game during the second quarter with one reception for 24 yards. He looked distraught as his injury was evaluated on the field.

He is currently listed as out indefinitely with the program. As if the 20-49 loss to Purdue wasn’t bad enough, losing a consistent receiver for the remained of the schedule stings just a little bit more.

Mack will spend the next six to eight weeks rehabbing and recovering which puts his return time during the college bowl period or afterward. He has been a great target for Dwayne Haskins all year, making great catches over the middle or along the sideline when the Buckeyes needed yards to convert. He currently has 26 catches for 331 yards and one touchdown. His best game came against TCU when he averaged 21 yards a catch on 4 catches for 84 yards on the day.

Ohio State comes into its 7th game of the season ranked number three in the country, picked to win the Big Ten, and a winner in all six of its games so far. They just beat Indiana 49-26 in the Horseshoe and now face a struggling Minnesota team at home with a noon kickoff on Fox. Dwayne Haskins continues his great play, passing for 6 touchdowns and almost setting a school record for yards in a game (he had 455 yards while the record is 459 by Art Schlichter). Haskins could easily finish the year with the most completions, yards, and touchdowns by a quarterback in Ohio State history.

Parris Campbell had a great game last weekend, catching 9 passes for 2 touchdowns and 142 yards.

Ohio State was able to defeat Penn State in the final minutes of last Saturday’s nail biter and now they face Indiana at home for what is normally a very easy game for the Buckeyes. The 27-26 victory over Penn State was an instant classic with the visitors down 12 points with only 8 minutes left in the game. If you want to see that match again, take a look at the TV listings Friday night and you’ll find a prime time reshowing. OSU now has four sub-par opponents that they should be able to beat easily without much worry.

Indiana is hoping Ohio State is hung over from the big win and they can sneak out a victory. The Hoosiers are 4-1 with one win and one lose in conference play. Last weekend they took down Rutgers 21-14. Ohio State is currently favored by 27.5 points, coming into the game ranked 3rd nationally. You can catch the game on FOX at 4pm if you cannot make it to the Horseshoe (Ohio Stadium) this weekend.

Haskins looked great in the fourth quarter last week after having some unfamiliar accuracy issues early on. He completed 22-39 for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns. He threw a touchdown for 24 yards to KJ Hill and another for 47 yards to Binjimen Victor, both in the 4th quarter.

The biggest game of Ohio State’s 2018 season is set for this weekend when the Buckeyes (No 4) travel to Happy Valley to play Penn State (No 9) at 7:30pm on ABC. ESPN College Gameday will be there in the morning and the place will be as loud and packed as it ever has been. A whiteout in Beaver Stadium is something fans are used to. Ohio State is favored by 3.5 points.

Urban Liar

Urban Meyer is back for second game since being suspended by the university for not properly reporting domestic abuse allegations against his now fired wide-receivers coach. Fans at Penn State have come out with ‘Urban Liar’ shirts that caused Shelley Meyer to fire back at the school on social media for its hospitality.

Dwayne Haskins

Dwayne Haskins continues to be the main story with 16 touchdowns threw 4 games, and a great performance against Tulane where he went 21 of 24 for 5 touchdowns and over 300 yards. His Heisman candidacy looks better every week with most commentators sure that he will get drafted into the NFL as soon as he is eligible.

Playoff Hopes

Losing on Saturday will make it harder to reach the NCAA playoff at the end of the season while winning almost ensures you are in the Top 4. Both teams need to finish the rest of their season’s unbeaten and get some help to have both make the playoff.

Remember when Gordon Gee, former Ohio State University President, said that Ohio State didn’t play the Little Sisters of the Poor and that’s why TCU didn’t belong in the Bowl Championship. Wisconsin found out in the Rose Bowl that year, 2011, that TCU is a pretty good program. Now TCU, ranked 15th in the country, is set to play Ohio State (#4) in Arlington Texas on Saturday in prime-time. The original home and home set in 2018 was changed to the single neutral site at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Jump Start to the Playoffs

The TCU Horn Frogs are hoping to jump start their College playoff birth this year with a win against the talented OSU Buckeyes. Gary Patterson will lead the TCU team on Saturday at 8pm on ABC while Urban Meyer will still be serving a three game suspension. Patterson feels that Ohio State is stronger because of the suspension of their head coach for not reporting domestic abuse allegations against his former wide-receivers coach.. TCU joined the Big 12 from the Mountain West and comes into the game with many returning defensive line starters.

Ohio State Size

Ohio State comes with one of the largest offensive lines in the country, moving Michael Jordan to center from guard in the off-season. The Ohio State line averages 6’6” and 313 lbs. TCU has a small and athletic defensive line averaging 6’2” and 254 lbs. Ohio State plays zone-read with blocks and run/play/option plays. Their size makes moving the ball easy.

Dwayne Haskins Jr

But the real story has been the break-out performance of quarterback Dwayne Haskins who has powered the OSU offense to 1,300 yards in two games and thrown for 9 touchdowns. Ryan Day, interim head coach, commented on Haskins improvement on the field but more importantly in the film room and the weight room. Haskins understands the position better this year than he did last year because of a good amount of study. And he is stronger because of time working with the strength and conditioning team.

Ohio State started their year off with a strong performance last weekend and the defensive line was impressive. Nick Bosa and Dre’Mont Jones both recorded two sacks on the Oregon State Beavers. Bosa added two fumble recoveries and a touchdown. Defensive End Chase Young had two quarterback hurries. This weekend they will get another chance to add to their sack totals.

Odds

In the first game with Urban Meyer not on the field, Ohio State was able to put up 700 yards against Oregon State last weekend but allowed 31 points. The final score of 77-31 beat the 40 point spread. This week the Buckeyes will face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the Shoe at 3:30pm (Big Ten Network). The Knights beat Texas State 35-7 last weekend. Initial odds have Ohio State starting 2-0 with a 33 point win against the team from New Jersey.

Rutgers Hopes to Score

Rutgers Coach Chris Ash is looking at scoring points this weekend against OSU. He likes what the team did last weekend with a balanced attack of over 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. He realizes that Ohio State has speed and talent and that they play really hard.